— — — — — —
The rain of artillery fire went on for nearly ten minutes before finally stopping. By then, the Whitebeard Pirates were almost completely wiped out—barely a handful managed to survive.
"Looks like this event's pretty much hopeless for us," Thatch muttered with a bitter smile. Glancing at the few survivors around him, he shook his head. If they'd read the situation properly earlier, maybe things wouldn't have ended like this.
"Damn it! If you've got balls, come out and fight me one-on-one!" Vista roared angrily at the distance.
"Sorry, but we're not 'men,' so no duel for you," Tesla sneered as she strolled out from the forest. She looked over the battered remnants of the Whitebeard crew with utter disdain.
"You—!" Vista's face flushed red, but he couldn't argue. After all, Tesla was… technically a woman. Maybe.
"Of course, if you're not happy about it, you can fight our mechs instead," Tesla added with a smirk, lifting her hand. The ground shook as if the earth itself was laughing at them.
"You gotta be kidding me! This is straight-up cheating!" Vista yelled as hundreds of titanic machines rose behind her.
"What kind of skill is that…?" Thatch was dumbstruck, staring at the steel army. You couldn't blame him—something this game-breaking was enough to make anyone question the balance of the event.
"No, no, no, this isn't just my doing." Tesla waved her hand dismissively. At that moment, the rest of Anti-Entropy emerged from the shadows, fanning out behind her in a neat, imposing line.
"…Was that flex really necessary?" Thatch muttered.
"It's not just for show," Welt adjusted his glasses seriously. "This is intimidation. We let anyone hiding nearby know how strong we are so they won't dare act rashly. That's all."
Hearing this nonsense explanation, Thatch just sighed, then pushed himself up. Staring at the wall of titans, he said firmly, "Doesn't matter what you say. Come on—we're not going down without a fight."
Welt smiled faintly. "We know. Titan Legion, charge!"
They'd been in the guild long enough to understand the Whitebeard Pirates well. Without hesitation, he gave the order.
Even knowing it was hopeless, Thatch and Vista fought with everything they had, cutting down nearly thirty titans before they were finally eliminated.
Welt couldn't help sighing. His irritation turned on Tesla. "Why'd you have to shout back then? If you'd just attacked, we wouldn't be sitting ducks right now." He scanned the trees nervously, half-expecting a hidden enemy to jump out and ruin their shot at victory.
Tesla flushed. "I didn't mean to, okay?"
"Forget it. Doesn't matter now," Einstein cut in, cutting the bickering short. Her gaze was locked on the massive figure not far away—the Herrscher of the End. "Focus on her. We bring her down fast, grab the loot, and get out."
"Yeah… no choice. Move out!" Welt steadied himself, then directed the titans to attack.
But the Herrscher's spear danced through the steel tide, tearing titans apart like toys. She was a monster with tens of thousands of HP and terrifying attack power.
Numbers told their own story. With the endless swarm pressing in, her health bar slowly but surely began to fall.
"Please let nothing go wrong," Einstein murmured uneasily, standing in the safety of the legion's core. Even surrounded by so many titans, her nerves wouldn't settle.
And for good reason. Because less than a meter away from her, a very ordinary-looking stone sat quietly… biding its time.
"Keep fighting, keep fighting. The moment you take her down, you'll all just become fuel for me. Hehe… I knew it. Survival's the only true path to victory."
The wicked little slime hiding in plain sight chuckled to itself.
Time crawled. At last, after sacrificing two hundred titans, the Herrscher finally collapsed, dropping a strange crystal where she fell.
"Grab it and prepare to pull out!" Welt barked. He had no intention of sticking around.
But that was when the hidden predator bared its fangs.
"Poison Slime!"
With a pop, Rimuru revealed his form, launching a bright green slime straight at them.
"When—?!" Panic rippled through the Anti-Entropy squad. Their titan army was strong, but the tradeoff was clear: they themselves had zero combat ability.
"Damn it!" Welt cursed. Too slow to dodge, the slime splattered across his face. His entire body turned sickly green like he'd been dunked in paint.
"256!"
"302!"
"273!"
Damage numbers popped above his head one after another as his HP plummeted.
"Ongoing damage… poison! Scatter, now!" Welt shouted, horrified as his life drained away.
"Think you can run? Not a chance. Slime Split!"
Rimuru sneered as he hurled four, five more slimes. Each one transformed into a human-shaped Rimuru clone before their eyes, all of them lunging for the helpless scientists.
"Poison Slime!"
"Sticky Slime!"
"Exploding Slime!"
Every clone unleashed skill after skill, not a single one missing. HP bars evaporated in seconds. In the blink of an eye, Anti-Entropy was wiped out.
"…So this's it, huh," Welt muttered, fading away.
"Next time, we'll do better," Einstein said calmly as her figure dispersed.
"Rimuru, you bastard! I'll never forgive you!" Tesla shrieked, but her words dissolved along with her figure.
"Serves you right. If you hadn't rushed in like an idiot, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess," Schrödinger rolled her eyes, then vanished as well.
"Jackpot! Absolute jackpot!" Rimuru cackled, his slimy grin stretching wide. Victory had never tasted sweeter.
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